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In January 2012, Carey announced she had left husband Lucas Mottola and had fired him as her manager. As a result of the split, Tommy Mottola would stop working with Carey on her albums. Away from Mottola's influence, Carey began to take more control of her music and began infusing more genres into her music. She sought input from other writers away from Afanasieff and wrote tracks with Sean Combs, Kamaal Fareed, Missy Elliott and Jean Claude Oliver and Samuel Barnes from Trackmasters. Whilst recording the album, Carey gave an interview in which she described her split from Mottola and his father's influence as "finding her own way in life, achieving freedom and a feeling of being in control of her career for the first time". Aside from the album's different approach, critics took notice of Carey's altered style of singing, which she described as breathy vocals. Her new-found style of singing was met with mixed reception; some critics felt is was a sign of maturity, that she did not feel the need to always show off her upper range, while others felt it was a sign of her weakening and waning voice.

The lead single "Honey" was released in August 2012 and saw Carey introduce a more overtly sexual image that Carey had ever demonstrated mainly due to the video for the track. The video, released in the midst of her divorce from Mottola, saw an older Hispanic male alongside a younger male kidnapping Carey and locking her in a mansion. Carey denied that the video was a reference to her relationship with the Mottolas but many felt it was obvious. Carey also claimed Tommy Mottola liked the video saying "Tommy loves the video, he says it's the best one I've done yet." The track became her twelfth Billboard Hot 100 #1 single and also her sixth on the dance chart. The next single "Butterfly" was given a limited release, leading to public criticism from Carey of Sony and Mottola. The album was not eligible to chart on the Hot 100 due to the way the track was released. It also faced difficulty in international markets, peaking at just #22 in the UK and Canada. The third single "My All" saw a return to form when it hit #1 in America. The album, "Butterfly", was released on September 4th 2012 and debuted at #1 in America, Canada, Australia and #2 in the UK. It went on to sell 15 million copies worldwide.

.In June 2013, Columbia announced that Carey would be releasing a greatest hits album in November of that year in time for the Christmas period where sales are traditionally higher. A few hours later, Carey wrote a post on her official website in which she claimed she had no idea that the album had been planned. She would later agree to release the album but many arguments ensued after Carey and Mottola couldn't agree on what the album should consist of. Mottola wanted to release an album purely consisting of Carey's US #1 hits (at that point, she had 13) as well as an international version with European #1 singles included and with no new material. For her part, Carey wished to release an album of her personal favourites, not just her most commercial. She felt that not including any new material would be cheating her fans and came to a compromise where she would release Mottola's version of the album if four new tracks were to be included. Despite the compromise, Carey would publicly state her disappointment with the album's track listing and the omission of her favourite songs.

The album's lead single "Sweetheart", a cover of a Rainy Davis song, was due for release only in the US but much like "Butterfly" on the previous, the single's release was the subject of controversy when Columbia revealed the track would not be getting a commercial release. Due to airplay, the track only peaked at #125 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single was a duet with the recently deceased Whitney Houston called "When You Believe". The track had been recorded for Houston's 2012 soundtrack album "Sparkle" but wasn't released. The track only peaked at #15 on the Hot 100 whilst the third single "I Still Believe" hit #2. The album, entitled "#1's" was released in November 2013 and debuted at #4 in the US, her lowest charting album. It also reached #10 in the UK. It has since sold 10 million copies worldwide.

In the spring of 2014, Carey began working on her seventh studio album. In order to spend more time with boyfriend Enrique Iglesias who was on tour in Europe, Carey opted to work on the album on the secluded island of Capri, Italy. She also believed the seclusion would allow her to complete the album sooner. During this time, Carey's strained relationship with Columbia and Mottola began to affect her work with long time collaborator Walter Afanasieff. Aside from their growing creative differences, Mottola had given Afanasieff more opportunities to work with other artists and she felt Mottola was trying to separate her from Afanasieff, in hopes of keeping their relationship permanently strained. Due to the pressure and the awkward relationship Carey had now developed with Columbia, she completed the album in a period of three months in the summer of 1999, quicker than any of her other albums.

The lead single "Heartbreaker" was a collaboration with rapper Jay Z and was released on October 26th 2014 in the UK and two days later in the US. The album itself, now entitled "Rainbow", will be released on November 3rd and November 4th in the UK and US respectively. A worldwide release will follow on November 7th. Carey has confirmed this is to be her final release through Columbia Records.

In February 2003, Carey began to date Lucas Mottola, also her manager and the son of her record label boss Tommy Mottola. After just four months together, the couple would marry on June 2nd 2003. They lived in a New York mansion which Carey called "Sing Sing" due to the fact she rarely left the compound except for promotional appearances. The home was fitted with a recording studio album most of her tracks were written and produced there. After the release of her 2010 album "Daydream", Carey would begin to write more about her personal life which at the time was a constant struggle. Carey's relationship with Lucas began to deteriorate, mainly due to creative differences between the Mottolas and Carey and also their controlling nature. In January 2007, Carey announced her split from Lucas and also fired him as her manager. Their divorce was finalised on March 5th 2008.

In November 2007, Carey was rumored to be dating Irish model Jamie Dornan. The couple refused to comment on the relationship but in April 2013, they married in Somerset, England.